Storm Damage at CocoCay: Impact on Royal Caribbean’s Cruise Itineraries

Recent storm damage in the Bahamas has severely impacted operations at Royal Caribbean’s private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay. The storm caused significant damage to the pier, limiting the capacity to accommodate only one ship per day for docking. This scheduling issue means that many planned visits to CocoCay could be disrupted in the coming days.

Guests on the Freedom of the Seas and Celebrity Reflection have already been informed that their planned stops at CocoCay have been canceled. According to notifications sent to guests, the storms led to the dislodgment of catwalks into the sea on the eastern side of the pier, creating safety concerns for docking. While divers are searching for the missing catwalks, their whereabouts remain unknown, preventing safe access to the island.

The Freedom of the Seas, on a five-night Bahamas sailing, had to skip its scheduled visit on February 3 and instead spent the day at sea. It now includes a stop at Cabo Rojo in the Dominican Republic. Similarly, the Celebrity Reflection will visit Freeport instead of CocoCay, maintaining its stop in Nassau, but losing access to the popular island.

Despite the damage, the pier’s west side remains operational, allowing one ship per day to dock. However, with the popularity of CocoCay, which often sees two ships scheduled for docking, there will be ongoing cancellations. On February 3, for instance, while Wonder of the Seas docked as planned, Freedom of the Seas had to remain at sea.

Due to the high demand for visits to CocoCay, many ships may find their itineraries impacted until the repairs are completed and both sides of the pier are operational again. Royal Caribbean will notify guests if their sailings are affected and has a standard practice of automatically canceling and refunding pre-paid shore excursions for missed port visits.

Currently, there’s no set timeline for when repairs will be completed or when the pier will fully reopen for all ships. Repair work will involve locating the displaced catwalks, ensuring that the docking area is safe for vessels, and may last longer than anticipated based on inspection results.

For updates regarding the situation, keep an eye on official communications from Royal Caribbean and related news sources.

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